Catholic View On Confession And Masturbation?
I am Catholic and I want to know what other Catholics think about Confession. My protestant friends don’t go to their priests for forgiveness but ask God directly for forgiveness for their sins. Why do Catholics go to a priest to do this? Also, is masturbation a sin. I look at pornography when I masturbate so I know it is a sin, but is it a mortal sin? I don’t feel like it has killed my good relationship with God.
- View the Catholic and masturbation?
- Catholic Priests and answer this - the masturbation?
- Catholic mass to be able to attend to absolve from sin one instead of going to confession?
- Plz help me, I am so worried about Confession (Catholic?)
- Where can trace their roots even when the Protestant Bible originated in the Catholic Church?
First of all, Protestants who only “confess to God” are not obeying the Bible. The Bible says that we must confess our sins to somebody else (James 5:16). And if you are going to confess your sins to somebody, why not pick somebody who has been ordained to pronounce you absolved from your sin? That’s only a Catholic or Orthodox priest (see John 20:21-23). Protestant ministers are not ordained to bestow absolution on anybody.
So there are two great advantages to Catholic confession — first, you’re following the Bible; second, you’re actually being absolved.
Yes, masturbation is a sin, a violation against the commandment to keep the marriage bed holy. Looking at porn is a separate sin that falls under the same commandment. You should consult with a priest (in confession) about the gravity of these sins. For something to be a mortal sin, you have to know it’s a mortal sin, you have to do it willingly, and it has to be a very serious matter.
Your priest can give you advice on how to avoid the sin, but here are some suggestions. First, burn the porn and make sure you don’t get any more. When you are tempted to buy more, turn around and go straight to a church and put the money that you would have used in the donation box. Second, get rid of any porn channels on your cable/dish subscription. Third, think about the times you feel compelled to masturbate — is it when you are tired, had a bad day at work, angry about somebody/something, lonely, bored, what? Then try to remedy each of those situations. When you are tired, find a more positive way to unwind, such as reading or praying a Rosary (the Rosary is a GREAT way to combat sexual sin; as is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy). When you have a bad day at work or are angry about something, go to the gym for a serious work out, go running, go bowling, join a sports league, whatever. If you are lonely or bored, sign up to volunteer at a soup kitchen or work for a ministry at the church (music, St. Vincent de Paul, Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, youth group, whatever).
You can’t just stop doing the bad stuff. You have to replace it with something good.
Confession is really just pre-20th century psychotherapy. Think about it!!!
As for masturbation, I know that in my time as a catholic (age 0 to about 25), I heard different things. Perhaps the most memorable was being 16 and in a youth group. I was told that masturbation was wrong - unequivocally so, by the supposedly “cool” and “with-it” young couple that was hired by the church to conduct the silly group that was making a feeble attempt at relevancy. Have to give the church some credit - but when you have 70-year olds deciding who runs youth groups, you’re gonna get pathetic results most of the time.
However, I stood up and asked what really was wrong with masturbating. After some back and forth about the subject, I was told by the goofy couple that it was ok if you were young, but in the story about the middle aged person, it wasn’t appropriate “at that age” to still need to pleasure yourself.
Did you note the THREE changes in position by the youth group leaders during the course of the conversation?
I sure as @$*% had. That was the end of time in that group.
RECONCILIATION - The act or state of re-establishing friendship between God and a human being, or between two persons. Reconciliation with God is necessary after a person has lost the divine friendship through grievous sin. It requires repentance on the part of the sinner and forgiveness on the part of God. The willingness to be reconciled with another person is a necessary condition for obtaining God’s mercy.
MASTURBATION - Direct stimulation of the sex organs outside of sexual intercourse. The self-stimulation can be physical, by means of some external object, or psychic, by means of thoughts and the imagination. It is a grave misuse of the procreative faculty and when done with full consent and deliberation is a serious sin. The sinfulness consists in setting in motion the generative powers while preventing them from achieving their natural, divinely intended purpose. (Etym. Latin manu, with the hand + stuprare, to defile oneself.)
So, if you steal something from a store or lie to your parents, you’d just say sorry to God? You wouldn’t apologize to the storeowner or parents as well? Jesus empowered the Church to forgive sins for this reason. Yes, masturbation and pornography is a sin, which compound one another and are mortal sins. Also, feelings have nothing to do with a relationship with God. Feelings come and go. I’m sure more serious sinners “feel” the same way, but they still sinned and cut themselves off from Him. Replace God with your parents, friend, etc and say that statement for commiting an offense against them and see how it sounds. Go to confession, seek absolution and then ask to speak to the priest outside the confessional (which isn’t a counseling booth), about any questions you have.
I wouldn’t be masturbating while in the confession booth looking at porn. Just my own advice to you.
I don’t think God will do anything to you but the priest might.
If you would like more answers, consider asking around this site as well…http://christianforums.com/forumdisplay….
Ask any teenage Catholic guy and you’ll get the same answer: masturbation isn’t bad
I think everyone does it, especially when they are young.
Some people just decide its wrong and others will continue with it forever.
I never understood confession. There is nothing wrong with chocking the chicken.
Well first of all, masturbation is a sin as is looking at pornography. The world will tell you otherwise, but as Christians we know that we are no of the world…only in it.
Secondly, we go to the priest for confession because Jesus instituted this sacrament. Protestants don’t enjoy the sanctifying grace brought about by this sacrament because they reject Catholic teaching and the Catholic Church authority. They are wrong on both counts…I know I used to be Protestant.http://www.catholic.com/library/Confessi…http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/confess.h…http://www.scripturecatholic.com/confess…
Granted, Protestants have it easier than Catholics. Being Catholic can be tough. But did Jesus teach us that following him would be easy? No, he did not.
Sin comes between you and God. It has nothing to do with how you “feel.” We will always be easy on ourselves, that is our nature. The things we want to do, we decide God doesn’t mind, and this justifies us. Very easy process, but a false one. No where in the Bible or Church teaching will you read or hear that God told us to be easy on ourselves. We never read that Jesus said “go ahead and sin, God loves you and wouldn’t want you to sacrifice.” Jesus said just the opposite. We are called away from sin, to take up our cross (which means suffering) and follow him. He told us we would be persecuted, that the way was narrow etc. etc.
Masturbation may be a mortal sin, but according to the Catechism, it may not be as well, it depends on the circumstances, your age and understanding. But it does come between you and God, because you are choosing your will over his. Pornography and masturbation are the misuse of God’s gift of sexuality. He gave us sex as a gift, to express love and life within marriage. Marriage is the earthly example of Christ’s love for his Church. Sex is the life giving expression of monogomous love, and should be something you give your wife alone. Using your mind and your body to indulge in selfish fantsies, to objectify women and other people, to misue your sexuality, is a sin. It demeans you and those you involve in your fantasies. It removes God, love and life from the sex act. Women are not objects of lust, they are children of God.
Pray and ask God for strength. Desire his will more than you desire your own. Offer it up to God and ask him to take away the desire, he will. Not all at once perhaps, but eventually. The more you seek him, the more you will find him. Eventually, you won’t remember why it was such a big deal. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/…http://couragerc.net/PIPMasturbation.htm...
Going to a priest is a catholic thing that isn’t required to do because Jesus Christ is the one person who can go between us and God. Jesus is our High Priest now. Masturbation is a sin against your own body just like how sex before marriage is a sin against your own body as well. You should pray directly to God for your forgiveness.
Why do you need a middle man to talk to a higher being?
Catholicism seems foolish to me